Blindness and visual impairment are conditions of poor visual perception. Blindness causes severe impairment in daily or normal life and routine. As of 2012 there were 285 million visually-impaired people in the world, of which 246 million had low vision and 39 million were blind. Literacy rate among blind is as low as 2% in developing countries and 10% in others because of the difficulty of learning Braille and lack of teachers as well as a lack of resources during learning and post learning.
Braille is a tactile writing system used by the blind and the visually impaired. It is traditionally written with embossed paper. Braille-users can read computer screens and other electronic supports thanks to refreshable Braille displays. Commercially available Braille displays use electromechanical Braille cells which utilize piezoelectric reeds to move the dots. Typically, the piezoelectric reeds are stacked in 2 columns and in 4 rows connected to 8 Braille dots. By applying an electric voltage, the reeds bend pushing the Braille dots through the reading surface emulating a Braille dot.
FIG. 1 illustrates an assembly drawing of a related art piezoelectric Braille cell. Reference numeral 2 refers to Braille dots on a cap 3. Reference numeral 4 refers to a pin which is located on a base 6, which pins are activated by inputs from a PCB 7 in relation to a line that is to be displayed. Reference numeral 8 refers to a piezoelectric bimorph which activates the pins 4.